Indonesia issues tsunami warning after strong earthquake

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Indonesia issued a tsunami warning today after a strong earthquake struck in the area of northern Sulawesi, but rapidly downgraded the threat.

The quake had a magnitude of 7.7 and struck in the Gorontalo area of Sulawesi island at a shallow depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).

Indonesia had launched its early warning system only last week in order to prevent a repeat of the tsunami disaster of 2004 when waves caused by an undersea earthquake killed a quarter of a million people across Asia.

The $130 million (£84 million) Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System, built with German technology and